Boat-propelling- mechanism



Dec. 4, 1928. 1,693,590

o. J. BORGMAN BOAT PROPELLI NG MECHANISM Filed March 17, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet l i fr Dec. 4, 1928. v 1,693,590

o. J. BORGMAN BOA`T PROPELLING MECHANI SM Filed March 17, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORN Patented Der. 4,- 1228.

unirse sre'rss )PATENT oFFicE.-

Boer-PROPELLING Mnvonanisivi.

Appcatioii filed March 17, 1926. Serial No. 95,207.

This invention is designed particularly for the purpose o'l providing a compact, eilicient and comparatively simple mechanism fort-he manual propulsion of small boats, although the arrangement for mounting and angling the propeller is adapted for mechani-- cal propulsion. The means provided for apf plying power to the propeller shaft and connections are designed to utilize the swinging body and leg movements characteristic or' rowing for the application of power to gearing and connections leading to the propeller,

so ithat the pull of theroperatos arms and the thrust of the legs incident to the back' Further objects `and details will appearA from the description of the invention in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein Figure 1 isa longitudinal.sectional View" of the stern of a boat showing the propeller mechanism of the presentv invention inele-V vation; l l

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional View taken on line 2 2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of 'of-elements involved in the Vpropelling and the arrows g l Fig. 3 is a viewy showing the propeller in' elevation kwith the associated housing in section;

Fig. 4 is a. perspective view looking downwardly upon the propeller housing;

VFig. 5 is adetail of the housing with the .y 1 JF 2 1 a. neel on which undeilies the prope ei an( rear section thereof removed:

Fig. '6 is a side elevation of the gear assembly with o-ne side of the gear housing removed Fig. 7 is a view looking downwardly on the gear assembly with the gear housing sectioned on a horizontal plane;

Fig. 8 is a sectionall view taken onl line 8 8 of Fig. 6, looking in the direction of the arrows; and l 9 is a lsectional planl view'taken on line` 9 9 ofVFig. 6.

The. gene-ral arrangement oic the propelling mechanisms ,iS .best ,illustrated `in Fig.' 1

whereinlO represents the'rearportion of a boat having a bottom 11, side 12 anda square stern 13. The propeller 14 is carried b an angularly disposed tubular housing'l w ich terminates in a drum shaped kgear housing 16 mounted within a bearing sleeve17' entered through and rigidly secured tol inner andiouter stern blocks 18 and 19.V

The propeller shafting'co-inprises a rear driven shaftV 2O and a forward driving shaft 21, which lattenis rotated by gearing mounting withinv the gear box 22. VThe shaft 21 is constantly driven by the partial rotations of a rock shaft 23, extending transi'ierse-lv thro-ugh the gear box and having pinned tb its ends apairr of swinging levers 24 which in l conjunction with one another` constitute a yokeshaped member which stiaddles the housing. Each of the swinginglevers at its lower end carries a foot pedal 25, and the two swinging arms at their' rupper ends in conjunction provide a mounting for fan "adjustable linky 26 which is pivoted to a hand lever 27 in suitablerelation to aseat 2810- cated near thestern of the' boat.

The propeller and vassociated :housing may be angled from side to side iny steering by the action of va steering lever 29, which through the medium of alink 30, serves to impart swinging movements to acrank 31 on the forward end of a sleeve 32, which constitutes a. forward'extension of a'sleeve' which "is journaled within the bearing sleeve' 17. y

The above` constitutes the principal groups steering mechanism of the present invention, and the sameV will no-w be described more in detail. The tubular housing 15 vhas formed thereon a depending tin v34'which normally occupiesa depending vertical position, as in Fig. 3, the rear end being extended to furnishv serves to protect` ther same against weeds, rocks, or other obstacles.V The depending rudder fin 84 is supplementedby lateral fins 3 4, which, when the partsare swiveled from the center toward veither side as in steering,

vwillswin'g out of the horizontal plane sufficiently yto` developa lateralcomponent of ref sistance to the water and thus supplement the steering function` ofthe depending lin and .will also serve todivert weeds oro-ther obstacles away from the propeller.

The gear `housing 16 vcomprises a rear vsection 86 anda-front sectorigwhch furnish lOlS a coinpletefenclosure for a pair of bevel gears 38 ant the former of which is carried'by the driven propeller shaft 20 and the latter of which is carried by the driving propeller shaft 2l.. An adjustable thrust bearing e() contacts the rear end of the driving shaft 21, and co-a-cts with a bushing llon the forward side of the gear 39, which'bushing contacts a boss 42 formed on the inner wall of the housing section Bushings 43 and all furnish bearings vfor opposite ends of the driven propeller shaft 20.

The sleeve 38 through which the rea" end of the driving propeller' shaft 2l entends is intewith the section 3T ofthe gear housing and extends forwardly therefrom above the center t iereof, and this arrangement enables the housing as a whole to be swung or swiveled around an asis coincident with the axis of the drivinfr propeller shaft which will serve to swing the propeller itself, together' with its tubular housing and rudder pin, from side to side, in ain arcuate path of movement, so that by thus angling the propeller the boat maybe steered, and by moving the propeller' and associated housing from its normal position through an are of 180D, as shown in Fig. l, the propeller, together with the rudder fin andhousing may be completely lifted from the water as occasion may require.

The driven propeller 'shaftbeing set at an angle to the driving propeller shaft normally holds .the propeller at a substantial distance below the surface of the water, which not only enables the .propellerto obtain an adequate grip onthe water,.but also provide for an adequate steering action by slightly anlgling the propeller from side to side, so that this steering effect, ,inadequatedegrea will be secured without appreciably lifting the propeller above the plane normally occupied bythe'propeller in its ,middle position. T he steering effect will be duebothto the angling ,of the steering fin and to the Adecenterling of the propellerthrust as ,the propeller is swung away from its straightahead position.

The bearing sleeve 17 is provided at its rear end with an outwardly extending flange which receives through bolts i6 entered through the inner and outer stern blocks 1S and 19, a backing l? fbeing interposed between the flange andthe outer stern lblock to prevent leakage of water. To further guard against leakage a gland 48 is entered into the forward'endof lthe bearing sleeve 17 which serves to seal the inner sleeve 33,

,and at the same time, permit the swinging movements thereof Vrequired in steering.

The forward end'of lthe driving propeller shaft 2l is entered .throughthe gear housing k22 and is carried by .ball bearings Li9 and 50.

rlhe shaft carries a 'pair of spaced inwardly facing bevel gears 5l and 52 which are freely mounted upon the shaftandfboth constantly yin mesh with a bevel faced gear 53 journaled upon a stub shaft 5e. The hub of the bevel faced gear 53 is provided with gear teeth in mesh with a steering gear 5G keyed to a transmission shaft 57 carrying a pinion 58 which in turn meshes with a driving gear 59 freely mounted on the roc shaft 23.

The freely mounted driving gear 59 is rel onits interior to afford an inner circuwall 6l) which constitutes'a gripping suree for the action of a plurality of vshoes-6l t lree innumber as shown), each of which is pivoted on a pin G2 inwardly extend- 'i the periphery of a ring 63 which provided with a heel 68, the opposed heels ofy adjacent shoes being spread apart by the thrust of an interposed spring 69.

rhe arrangement is such `that when the upper ends ofthe swinging-arms are drawn rearwardly to impart a rotative movement to the rock shaft 23, the pins 66, which are in fixed relation to the rock shaft, will draw against the inner ends of the shoes and tend to imparta swinging movement-thereto such that the angularly cut corner of each shoe will bite against the inner wall 60 of the driving gear 59 andclutch therewith during the activestroke ofthe rock shaft while on the return stroke. The tendency will be to swing the biting portion of each shoe `away from Contact with the wall of the surrounding gear,which release will be assisted by the thrust of the interposed springs 69 with the result that the parts will act in the manner of a clutchingratchet for the purpose ofv transforming a rocking motion into a continuous motion in one direction. This conversion of rockinginotion of the rock shaft into rotary mot-ion is accomplished by a driving' force which Ais applied to the gear 59 ad-v jacent its periphery at all times, thus wor-liinff through a maximum leverage in the transmission of the hand power which is utilized.

rthe shaft 2l is additionally supported by an intermediate strut 7() inwardly extending from the side ofthe gear housing, and the forward end ofthe shaft carries a fly wheel r' L J (l. Between the pivotJ gears ol and 52 1s a slidably grooved clutch collar 72 'which -engages with the shaft 2l and is adapted'fto be Y' tion tothe handle bars.

handle 78 to aHord a grip for both hands of the operator.

In use, the operator will 28 facing forward and will grasp the cross handle 78 with' bothhands and place his feet upon the foot pedals which swing in opposi- 'I`hus, when the operator draws back, as in rowing, he will naturally thrust his feet forward, so that the vnormally opposed movements of the hands and feet lwill both be utilized in imparting powerto the rock shaft 23 which will be transformed into rotating movement through the clutch connections described, and such rotation will be imparted to the propeller.

In steering, vthe liandle29 can be movedy transversely to swivel the propeller mounting thereby throwing the propeller and steering fin olf center to the desired degree, and

t such steering can easily be effected by the left hand while a grasp of the rightrhand is y retained upon the propelling lever. It is desirable to provide a coupling 7 9 in the shaft 2l to facilitate the installation of the mechanisms, and also to afford some slight range of adjustment in the length of the shaft.l

The arrangement is one which so locates the propeller as to give .it a desirable upper thrust in all normal positions of steering adjustment.

The invention is one which is strong and rugged in construction and which may be easily fitted to boats of the lcharacter for which said type of propelling mechanism is primarily designed, and at the saine time, the

mechanism is one which will prove highly efficient in operation and which will affordy a healthful form of exercise and bring intoplay all of the body muscles ordinarily exercised in rowing. Although, the invention has been described with considerable particularity as to detail, it is not the intention to limit the invention to the exact mechanism shown which may obviously be modified in various particulars without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim: i i

l. In combination with a boat, a propelling mechanism therefor, including a driving shaft having a fixed mounting within the boat and extended to a point exteriorly thereof, a driven shaft having a propeller thereon in angular relation to the driving shaft, gear connections betweenthe two shafts, a swivelly mounted housing enclosing the drivehi shaft and the said gear connection, and'means' extended from the housing to a point withinV rI he link 26 occupy the seatscribed. A i 2. In propelling combination with a propeller, a driven shaft on which the propeller is mounted, a driving sliafthaving a fixed relation to thelongitudinal axis ofthe boat, the driving shaftbeing in angular relation to the drivenpropeller shaft,rintermeshing gearson the respective shafts, a housingfor the two shafts, aswivel mounting' for the housing to permit the driven shaft and propeller theieon'to be swung laterally in steering, and'ineans for actuating the driving shaft,sub`stantially as described. 3. In propelling mechanism 4for boats, the combination with a propeller,"a driven shaft on which the propeller is mounted, avdriving shaft having a fixed relation to the longitudinal axis of the boat, the driving shaft being in angular relation'to the driven propeller shaft, intermeshing gears on the respective shafts, a housing for the two shafts, a swivel mounting for the housing to permit the driven shaft and propeller thereon to be swung laterally in steering, means for actuating the drivmeclianism for boats, the

ingl shaft, anda steeringl fin carriedby the mounting, substantially as described. y 4L. In propelling mechanism for boats, the

combination with a propeller, a driven shaft f 'on which the propeller is mounted, a driving shaft having a fixed relation to the longitudinal axis of the boat,'the driving shaft being in angular relation to the driven propeller shaft, internicshing gearson the respective shafts, a housing for the two shafts, a swivel mounting for the housing topermit the drivy en shaft and propeller thereon to be swung laterally in steering, means for actuating the driving shaft, and a steering fin carriedby the mounting having its heel extended below the propeller, substantially as described.

5. In propelling mechanism for boats, the y combination with apropelleig'a driven shaft on 'which thepropeller is mounted,adriving shaftliaving a fixed relation to thevlongitudinal axis of thefboat, the driving shaft being in angular relation to the driven propeller shaft, intermesliing gears .on the respective shafts, a Yhousing' for the two shafts, a swivel mounting for the housing to permit the driven shaft and propeller thereon to be swung laterally in steering, means for actuating the driving shaft, a steering fin normally dependling below the `rear portion of the swivelly mounted housing, and a pair of lateral fins secured to the housing in transverse relation to the depending fin, substantially as described. i

6. In boat propelling mechanism, the com-V bination. with a power source which includes a driving shaft havingafixed relation to the longitudinal axis of the boat, of a propeller having` fixedly mounted blades, a mounting" for the propeller extending in vangular relation to the axis of the driving shaft, means` iis l for swinging `che nwunt-ingrglateral-ly in steer ing, and operating connections extending from the drivingshafti Jthrough the mounting adapted to rot-ate the propeller in one direction, substantially as described.

In boat propelling mechanism, the combination Wit-h a power source Which includes a driving shaft having a fixed relation to Jche longitudinal axis-of the boat, of a propeller having iixedly mounted blades, a mounting for the propeller extending in angular relation so the longitudinal axis of the boat, means for swinging Jhe mounting laterally in steen ing, operating connections extending,v from the drivingl Shaft through the mountingadapted to rotate the propeller, and a steeringfin carried by the mounting, substantially as described.

8. In boat propelling mechanism, jche oombination with a pov-Jer source which includes 20 a driving Shaft having' a lined relation to the lone'itudinal axis oi the boat, or a propeller 1A imhaving' a shaft in angulari'elation tothe driving shaft, means ior swinging the propeller shaft laterally in steering', operating' 25 inO below the jroneller subsantiall as de- 30 scribed.

OSGi/in J. Boi-ionen. 

